


Butterflies Out of Reach

by 2amEuphoria



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Abduction, Additional Warnings Apply, Body Horror, Childhood Trauma, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Multi, Murder Mystery, Night Terrors, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Police Procedural, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Horror, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Sleep Paralysis, Staged Crime Scene, Symbolism, Thriller, True Crime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24512140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2amEuphoria/pseuds/2amEuphoria
Summary: According to the FBI, a child in America goes missing or is abducted every 40 seconds.The following is one child's story.(Re-written fanfiction of mine from November 2019.)
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> You might remember this being the first story I wrote on AO3 way back when. After some deliberation, I decided what I had currently written wasn't salvageable, and decided that re-writing the entire thing would be easier.
> 
> Sources for facts and statistics in the introduction and in later chapters will be posted on my Tumblr, if anyone is interested. I will provide the link as soon as this post is made.

_According to the FBI, a child in America goes missing or is abducted every 40 seconds._

_That totals to approximately 800,000 children each year._

_Approximately 9% will be abducted by family members._

_Approximately 3% will be abducted by a non-family member, usually someone the child knows._

-

_Less than 100 children, however, are abducted by someone they do not know._

In 1996, nine year old Amber Hagerman was seen being abducted by an adult male stranger into a pickup truck.

In 1989, 11 year old Jacob Wetterling was biking home with a close friend when he was kidnapped at gunpoint.

In 1993, 12 year old Polly Klaas was taken from her room at knifepoint in the middle of a sleepover with friends.

_About half of these children will return home._

-

_1 in 10,000 missing children are at risk of dying at the hands of their kidnapper._

Amber Hagerman’s body was discovered four days after being abducted. Her killer’s identity remains unsolved. 

In 2016, after 27 years without an answer, authorities uncovered Jacob Wetterling’s remains. His abductor murdered him within hours of the kidnapping.

After two long months, Polly Klaas’ abductor revealed where she was buried after confessing to her murder.

 _In 74% of select cases, the missing child was killed_ within the first three hours _of being taken._

-

_Since the early 1980s, America has fought to bring missing children to the public’s attention._

Amber Hagerman became the legacy behind the America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Alert system, otherwise known as AMBER Alert.

In 1994, the Jacob Wetterling Act became the first federal law requiring state-wide sex offender registries, in part because of the advocacy work by his parents.

Polly Klaas’ abduction would help institute California’s controversial “Three Strikes” law.

_In 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a non-profit organization that has since helped thousands of cases, was founded. _

-

_Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies, NCMEC, and parents alike, not every child is safe._

On May 10th, 2026, 4 year old Alea Margaret Bright, the daughter of an NYPD detective and a forensic profiler, was abducted from her home during the night.

Alea became one of less than 100 children to be abducted by someone she did not know, and one of the 10,000 children taken by a perpetrator capable of violent intent.

_The following is her family’s story._

-


	2. Prologue (Flash-Forward): That Was Then

-52 Hours Gone-

_Dani_

Protocol had domesticated her.

Since “To Protect and To Serve” became her guiding light, Dani believed in the system. "This first, then that.” “Procedures done right get results.” “Rules were created for a reason.”

She had spent years interviewing witnesses, delivering unimaginable news to families of victims. All the while providing comfort and promise, persuading them to let due process and professional expertise deliver justice. 

That was then.

Now she was under the void of a starless New Hampshire skyline, in a clearing that stretched out to reveal an ominous forest ahead of her. Damp mud squelched around her boots, and mosquitoes hummed by her ears, drawn to the fresh tears on her cheeks. She stood miles from anything she’d ever known. A rusted flashlight her only guide. Her daughter’s photo a weight in her mind and her back pocket.

Dani used to express that she understood the plights of victims and their loved ones, and perhaps she thought she did. Only now, however, did she truly recognize every pulse of guilt, and fear, and vulnerability they endured.

The system had tried. Technique had shown promise, evidence-based procedure had followed leads. But what these methods couldn’t deliver was empathy. The system didn’t have a heartbeat, let alone an understanding of what it meant to carry a second heartbeat inside of you for nine months. Procedure couldn’t grasp being on the side of the interview table with tissues within reach, or on the other side of the police tape. The same methods she once begged victims to believe in were no longer getting her anywhere, and now she understood why.

She sent the GPS coordinates of her location to Malcolm before watching her phone screen turn black. She’d betrayed him once already tonight; the least she could do was let him know where her body could be found. 

With that final act, Dani disconnected herself from the system she knew, and let something more autonomic take control.

Protocol had domesticated her, but it had failed when she needed it most. Only instinct could help her now.


End file.
